Output of products from polymers in Belarus rose by 5.8% in January-October 2013

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The overall increase in production of key products from polymers in Belarus was 5.8% in January-October 2013, reported MRC analysts.

Producers of plastic windows, pipes, hoses and fittings accounted for the largest increase in production.

According to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, the output of windows, window frames and window sills rose up to 47,100 square meters in October (an increase of 2% from September). The overall production of these products grew to 413,600 square meters in the first ten months of 2013, up by 14.2% year on year.

Last month's output of pipes, hoses and fittings from polymers dropped by 12.6% from September and amounted to about 1,100 tonnes. This figure exceeded 11,800 tonnes in January-October 2013, up by 11.5% year on year.

October output of boxes, contrainers, plastic trays rose to 65.8 million units, up by 10.2% from September. The overall production of these products from polymers was 583.1 million units in the ten months of the year, up by 8.9% year on year.

The output of reinforced polymer and non-combined films in October virtually remained at September's level and totalled about 7,300 tonnes. The overall films production exceeded 73,800 tonnes in January-October 2013, up by only 0.6% year on year.

Last month's production of plastic doors and their boxes fell to 3,600 square meters from 4,200 square meters in September. The overall output of these products dropped by 4.8% in the ten months of 2013 to 32,700 square meters.
MRC

Moscow (MRC) -- The demand for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in Belarus increased by 20% to about 35,000 tonnes, according to MRC analysts.

Imports of unmixed PVC to Belarus grew to 4,400 tonnes in Septemer. Total PVC imports to Belarus reached 35,000 tonnes in the first nine months of the year, compared with 29,200 tonnes year on year.

The main increase in PVC imports occurred for supplies from Germany. Imports of PVC to Belarus from Germany increased more than one and a half to 17,600 tonnes in the first nine months of the year. The main supplier of German PVC is a subsidiary of a major Russian producer of window profiles.

The second largest supplier of PVC to Belarus was a Polish producer Anwil. Total imports of Polish PVC to Belarus grew to 11,800 tonnes in the first nine months of the year, compared with 8,300 tonnes year on year.

Imports of US PVC decreased to 1,900 tonnes in the first nine months of the year, from 5,100 tonnes year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Production of PET chips at Russian plants dropped in January-October 2013 by 7% year on year and totalled 354,000 tonnes, according to MRC ScanPlast.

A sharp drop in production has been registered since early August. It was caused by a series of force majeures and shutdowns for scheduled maintenance at Russian polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plants.

October was no exception. October outpute of PET fell by 43% year on year and totalled 21,900 tonnes. Such low levels of production in October were caused by several factors. Firstly, Senege shut down its production because of a failure in the first week of October. Secondly, Bashkir Polief resumed operations only in the second half of the month. Thirdly, SIBUR-PETF has reduced significantly its capacity utilisation in October.

November PET production in Russia will remain low this year and will not reach PET output of November 2012. Kaliningrad plant Alco-Naphtha shut down its production for a turnaround on 11 November. The plant remained idle for almost the whole month, intending to restart production in late November. In its turn, Senege did not finish maintenance works in October. The plant did not produce PET chips for almost the whole of November, which will affect the country's overall output of PET.

This Autumn long outages will allow market players to reduce their stocks. Seasonal stronger demand is expected in the spot market in early December because of preparations for the New Year holidays and a lack of available quantities in the market.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Consumption of polycarbonate in Russia increased by 8% to 82,000 tonnes in the first ten months in 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, according to a MRC ScanPlast.

The main consumption sector of PC-granulate in Russia continued to be building (about 16%) and the production of electrical appliances and lighting engineering (about 18%).
Demand for injection moulding polycarbonate for the production of electrical appliances has improved. The leaders in the imports of injection moulding polycarbonate were Sabic, Bayer and Samsung.

Russian market of PC-granulate continued to be dependant on imports, because Russian producers are unable to meet the growing demand for quality feedstock from converters. Russia's imports of PC-granulate exceeded 39,000 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, which was almost half of the total consumption.

Russia's exports totalled almost 14,000 tonnes in the firts ten months of the year. Total PC production in Russia was about 56,000 tonnes in the first ten months of the year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Vietnamese government will thoroughly evaluate state-owned Thai PTT's proposed mega-refinery and tightly manage the development of other refinery and petrochemical projects in the country, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told the National Assembly, reported Plastemart.

The statement was in response to a lawmaker's concern that regional governments appeared to be on a "campaign" to build too many projects.

PTT expects to complete a feasibility study of the proposed 660,000 bpd project in the central province of Binh Dinh in April.

Dung said most of the proposals for new Vietnamese refineries have been approved in principle and were included in the country's 2020-25 development plan for the refining and petrochemical sector, which was released in 2011.

However, he has asked the municipal government of the southern Can Tho City to consider revoking the investment license of the much-delayed 2 mln tpa Can Tho project. The sponsors, Vietnam's Vien Dong Investment and Trade Corp., are financially unable to move the project forward, the prime minister said.

Dung said Vietnam's sole 130,000 bpd Dung Quat refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai has shown its effectiveness. As MRC wrote previously, Russia's Gazprom Neft plans to acquire a 49% share in state-owned PetroVietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical, which controls and manages the Dung Quat refinery. The two parties are currently in price negotiations.
MRC